The Passing of the Third Floor Back - Postcard, 1909
Title
The Passing of the Third Floor Back - Postcard, 1909
Date
15 March 1909
Description
Unused postcard for drama The Passing of the Third Floor Back by Jerome K Jerome and starring Johnston Forbes-Robertson and Gertrude Elliott.
What's the story?
This promotional postcard for The Passing of the Third Floor Back depicts actor Johnston Forbes-Robertson in one of the leading roles.
Forbes-Robertson was a renowned actor during the late Victorian and Edwardian period. He is regarded as one of the great Shakespearian actors of the period, often working alongside Sir Henry Irving. His performance in the title role of Hamlet is often described as one of the greatest of all time, even though he was 44 years of age when he played the Dane for the first time.
Playwright Bernard Shaw, in 1898, was so impressed with Forbes-Robertson that he wrote the part of Caesar in Caesar & Cleopatra for him, stating:
“Forbes-Robertson is the only actor I know who can find out the feeling of a speech from its cadence. His art meets the dramatist’s art directly, picking it up for completion and expression without explanations or imitations”
In 1900 Forbes-Robertson invited American actress Gertrude Elliott to join his company and later that same year they were married. Their professional careers often intertwined, as shown by this production of The Passing of the Third Floor Back. It was a play that Forbes-Robertson became closely associated with, even starring in the 1918 silent film version.
The Passing of the Third Floor Back was written by Jerome K Jerome in 1908. The play, set in mysterious boarding house at Christmas time, was a big success. Yet the writer’s name does not appear on this promotional postcard, despite Jerome already being a household name with the publication of Three Men In a Boat in 1899.
Forbes-Robertson was a renowned actor during the late Victorian and Edwardian period. He is regarded as one of the great Shakespearian actors of the period, often working alongside Sir Henry Irving. His performance in the title role of Hamlet is often described as one of the greatest of all time, even though he was 44 years of age when he played the Dane for the first time.
Playwright Bernard Shaw, in 1898, was so impressed with Forbes-Robertson that he wrote the part of Caesar in Caesar & Cleopatra for him, stating:
“Forbes-Robertson is the only actor I know who can find out the feeling of a speech from its cadence. His art meets the dramatist’s art directly, picking it up for completion and expression without explanations or imitations”
In 1900 Forbes-Robertson invited American actress Gertrude Elliott to join his company and later that same year they were married. Their professional careers often intertwined, as shown by this production of The Passing of the Third Floor Back. It was a play that Forbes-Robertson became closely associated with, even starring in the 1918 silent film version.
The Passing of the Third Floor Back was written by Jerome K Jerome in 1908. The play, set in mysterious boarding house at Christmas time, was a big success. Yet the writer’s name does not appear on this promotional postcard, despite Jerome already being a household name with the publication of Three Men In a Boat in 1899.
Type
Postcard
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
researcher: David Longford
